1. Technical Field
This structure and system relates generally to the communication arts and more specifically to an advertising and communication structure and system. More particularly, in one example, the invention relates to a structure and system which utilizes the traditional payphone infrastructure, offers individualized and personal communication services and additionally offers the ability to broadcast and communicate with a broad audience.
2. Description of Related Art
Payphones, telephones available for a fee, are commonly found on street corners, near stores and restaurants, and at transportation hubs such as airports and train stations, among several other places. Payphones provide the public with an inexpensive way to communicate with friends, family, businesses, emergency agencies and others. Payphones traditionally operate on a “user-pays” system and have enjoyed success for several decades. Under the user-pays system, the user making the phone call must pay a defined amount to make a phone call and may be required to pay additional money to continue the phone call. The money paid by the user is then collected by the payphone operator or owner. The money collected is used to pay for payphone maintenance and calling costs. However, with the advent of the mobile phone, payphones often go unused as many would rather use their mobile phone than pay a fee to call from a payphone. For this reason, owners and operators of payphones no longer have the funds necessary to maintain the payphones, causing the phones to fall into disrepair.
Although many prefer the convenience of a mobile phone to a payphone, mobile phones are susceptible to several limitations. For example, mobile phone networks often fail during regional or national emergencies as the mobile phone network may become overloaded. Even when the network is operating properly, mobile phone users are limited to network coverage, which is often inconsistent or even nonexistent in some areas. This is true even in very large cities in areas such as subways and parking structures. Mobile phones also are reliant on battery power which is by nature limited. This frustration is well known to travelers who often find their mobile phone battery depleted after a long day of travel, leaving the traveler unable to update their loved ones or coordinate a pickup location. These limitations also pose public safety concerns in areas such as airports or metro stations, where the public is often relied upon to alert emergency authorities of an ongoing emergency. Often times, such areas display signs requesting the general public to call a certain number if they observe suspicious behavior or objects. While some jurisdictions obligate entities overseeing certain public or semi-public areas to provide payphone services, the owners and operators of these payphones struggle to pay for the costs of the payphone and often operate at a loss. For these reasons, it is desirable to provide public telephone services having payment model capable of sustaining maintenance and calling costs.
In an effort to provide affordable public telephone services, some providers have turned to advertising as an alternative to the traditional user-pays system. Under the “advertiser-pays” system, an advertising display may be affixed to or otherwise incorporated into the telephone device and the revenue generated by the advertisement may be applied to the calling and maintenance costs. The user is then free to make phone calls without paying. It is contemplated that the free telephone calls may attract users, exposing them to the advertisements. Additionally, individuals passing by the telephone structure will also be exposed to the advertisements. While this solution is an improvement on the user-pays model, it has achieved only limited success. One reason for its limited success is that the general public is often unaware that the phone calls can be made for free. After decades of familiarity with the user-pays system, the general public, often assumes that these telephones require payment. A larger reason for the limited success is that the national advertisers willing to pay a substantial advertising fee have generally deemed the advertisement delivery system too localized to support a national campaign. The advertisement delivery system often consists of a single video screen which repeats advertisements on a loop. While the user of the phone is certainly within range of this advertisement, it is unlikely that individuals passing by will even notice the advertisement. For this reason, under the advertiser-pays system described, advertising revenue is limited and often cannot sustain maintenance and calling costs.